Tracheostoma Valve

ABSTRACT

A tracheostoma valve to be applied to a tracheostomized person&#39;s neck comprises an air passage to be connected with the tracheostoma for connecting the trachea with the surroundings. A valve member is provided in the air passage, wherein the valve member is normally open and allows for inhalation and exhalation through the air passage. The valve further comprises a manually activated member for establishing an uninterrupted seal to block patient exhalation, thereby to direct it to the patient&#39;s pharynx, esophagus, sinuses, and mouth for speech following surgical removal of the larynx.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a tracheostoma valve adapted to control theflow of air through a tracheostoma.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Due to deceases of different kinds it is sometimes necessary to removethe larynx by surgery and to open a tracheostoma in order that theindividual exposed to the surgery can breathe. By the removal of thelarynx the ability to speak will be lost but can be restored to someextent by means of another surgery wherein a fistula is opened betweentrachea and esophagus to pass air to the oral cavity via the fistula. Aone-way valve is mounted in the fistula. This valve referred to as avoice prosthesis, allows air to pass from trachea to esophagus butblocks complete flow in the opposite direction. For speech to begenerated the tracheostoma must be closed so that air can be passed fromtrachea via the voice prosthesis into the esophagus and to the mucousmembranes of which are made to vibrate so that speech is produced. Thetracheostoma can be closed by covering the tracheostoma with a fingerbut it is more convenient to use for this purpose, a tracheostoma valveof the kind referred to above, which is attached to the neck of theperson that has been exposed to tracheostoma surgery, in order tocontrol the connection between trachea and the ambient atmosphere viathe tracheostoma. The tracheostoma valve provides manual control of saidconnection. Embodiments of such valves are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,738,095, U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,208, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,366. Thedrawback of these valves are of a mechanically complicated and costlyconstruction and moreover often are not attractive aesthetically due tothe dimensions thereof which make it difficult to conceal the valvesunder garments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a tracheostoma valvewhich manually activated will establish an uninterrupted seal to blockpatient exhalation, thereby to direct it to the patient's pharynx,esophagus, and mouth for speech following surgical removal of thelarynx. It is a further object of the present invention to provide atracheostoma valve which is of mechanically simple construction, inparticular to permit ease of operation by a user and/or ready cleaningand/or to reduce costs to such an extent that the valve or componentsthereof are disposable and replaceable. It is a further object of thepresent invention to provide a tracheostoma valve of a low profileconstruction and can be concealed under garments. Further advantageousfeatures of the tracheostoma valve of the invention are defined in thedependent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a representation of the Tracheostoma Valve with HME unit;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the Tracheostoma Valve with HME unit;

FIG. 3 is a section view of the Tracheostoma Valve in open position;

FIG. 4 is a section view of the Tracheostoma Valve in closed position;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The tracheostoma valve disclosed in the drawing comprises a housing 11which is circular and having an open proximal and distal end and insideconcave wall 14 positioned perpendicular to the axis which can be madeof plastic material. Said inside concave wall 14 has openings therein 12allowing air to pass there through. A displaceable member 10 which canbe made of a thin resilient plastic sheet material has a disc shape andis located above said housing concave wall. Said displaceable member hasopenings therein 13 and are oriented at 90 DEG with respect to that ofthe openings in said housing concave wall allowing air to pass therethrough. The valve is combined with a heat and moisture exchange unit(HME unit) a plastic foam body 15 with open cells. The foam body islocated and held in place inside the proximal end of the housing 11. Theproximal end of the housing is intended to be connected to an adapter ona self-adhesive plaster to be attached to the person's neck over thetracheostoma, or to a laryngectomy tube to be inserted into tracheathrough the tracheostoma.

The valve is of the normally open type. To close, the displaceablemember 10 is pressed with a finger inward so as to engage the surface ofthe housing concave wall 14 creating a seal as both displaceable memberopenings 13 and housing concave wall openings 12 are closed and air isnot allowed to pass there through. To open, the finger is removed fromthe displaceable member to allow it to return to the normal open stateallowing air to pass there through.

During breathing inhalation air passes from the ambient atmospherethrough the openings 12,13 and through the HME unit 15 into trachea andthen to the lungs. During expiration the breathing air follows the samepath in the opposite direction. However, if the person wishes to producespeech by passing expiration air through a voice prosthesis thedisplaceable member 10 is pressed with a finger inward to engage thesurface of the housing concave wall 14, both displaceable memberopenings 13 and housing concave wall openings 12 are closed and noexpiration air can pass through the tracheostoma valve to the ambientatmosphere; the air will instead be passed through the voice prosthesisto the oral cavity and from there through the mouth to the ambientatmosphere.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tracheostoma valve to be applied to atracheostomized person's neck comprising a housing which is circularhaving an open proximal and distal end and inside concave wallpositioned perpendicular to the axis which can be made of plasticmaterial. The inside concave wall has openings therein allowing air topass there through, a displaceable member which can be made of a thinresilient plastic sheet material has a disc shape and is located abovesaid housing concave wall. The displaceable member has openings thereinand are oriented at 90 DEG with respect to that of the openings in saidhousing concave wall allowing air to pass there through. Manuallyoperated said displaceable member is pressed with finger inward so as toengage the surface of the housing concave wall creating a seal as bothdisplaceable member openings and housing concave wall openings areclosed and air is not allowed to pass there through. To open, the fingeris removed from said displaceable member to allow it to return to thenormal open state allowing air to pass there through.
 2. A tracheostomavalve according to claim 1, wherein a rib is provided above saiddisplaceable member to prevent unintended closing of said valve.
 3. Atracheostoma valve according to claim 1, wherein said valve comprises atracheal cannula.
 4. A tracheostoma valve according to claim 1, whereinsaid displaceable member is of a bowtie or hour glass shape.
 5. Atracheostoma valve according to claim 1, wherein said housing has aretaining grove to locate and hold said displaceable member in a desiredposition.
 6. A tracheostoma valve according to claim 1, wherein saidhousing has a retaining cross bar to locate and hold said HME unit in adesired position.
 7. A tracheostoma valve according to claim 1, whereinsaid housing has a heat stake post to locate and hold said HME unit in adesired position.